Is Wine a Blessing? Suffer, then, this feeble rhyme, 105 W. U. IS WINE A BLESSING ? I WISH to say that the clergymen of the Church of England are positively doing more for the Temperance movement than Dissenters; and the same is true of their wives. I was invited to church, with a clergyman who is now bishop of Carlisle, and we had a discussion for two hours. A titled lady was present, and she helped him. I was alone, and had to bear the whole brunt of the battle in the Scriptural argument. 'Why, we thought you were prepared to deny this!' 'I do not deny it. I can read.' 'Wine is spoken of in the Bible as a blessing'! I replied: There are two kinds of wine spoken of in the Bible.' 'Prove it.' 'I do not know that I can, but I will tell you what it is—the wine that is spoken of as a "blessing" is not the same that is a "mocker," and the wine that is to be drunk in the kingdom of heaven cannot be the wine of the wrath of Gol. So that, although I cannot prove it learnedly, I know it is so. 'Now, there are others who go farther than I can go, but you will please let me go as far as I can understand it, and if I cannot go any farther don't find fault with me. I hold that the Bible permits total abstinence; and I would rather search the Bible for permission to give up a lawful gratification for the sake of my weaker-headed brother, who stumbles over my examples into sin, than to see how far I can follow my own propensities without committing sin and bringing condemnation upon any one's soul.' Another gentleman who came to me for a long talk said: 'I have a conscientious objection to teetotalism, and it is this: our Saviour made wine at the marriage of Cana in Galilee.' 'Then he honoured and sanctified wine by performing a miracle to make it,' 'Therefore,' said he, 'I should be guilty of ingratitude, and should be reproaching my Master.' 'Sir,' said I, 'I can understand how you should feel so; but is there nothing else you put by, which your Saviour has honoured ? ' 'No, I do not know there is.' 'Do you eat barley bread ?' No,' and he then began to laugh. 'And why not?' 'Because I don't like it.' 'Very well, sir,' said I, 'Our Saviour sanctified barley bread just as much as he ever did wine. He fed five thousand people with barley loaves manufactured by a miracle. You put away barley from the low motive of not liking it. I ask you to put away wine from the higher motive of bearing the infirmity of your weaker brother, and so fulfilling the law of Christ.' I wish to say that man signed the pledge three days afterwards.-John B. Gough. A SINNER'S CRY FOR MERCY. 66 Jesus, Thou Son of David, have mercy on me."-Luke xviii, 38. Jesus, dear Son of God, Who died my soul to save, And shed on earth Thy precious blood That pardon I might have; On one, O Lord, bestow Thy mercy rich and free; Forgive my sins, and kindly show A slave his liberty. Without Thy sovereign grace, For ever I'm undone; But Thou hast bid me seek Thy face, Thou kind and gracious One! What a Rabbit Did. 107 Ilkeston. Oh! could I hear Thy voice Pronounce me justified, How would this trembling heart rejoice, And all its fears subside. The gospel bids me hope, And cast away despair, Encourag'd thus, I now look up, Oh! Jesus hear my prayer. The gift unspeakable By faith I now receive, I'll bid the world and sin farewell, And to Thy glory live. And when the hour shall come Oh bear me to my heavenly home- WHAT A RABBIT DID. Joseph Parker. While my friend Clyde and myself were out in the hills back of Golden Gate, last week, a jack rabbit came along and stopped to look at us. 'If I had thought to bring my revolver along, we would have jack on toast for breakfast to morrow,' I remarked. 'Not with my consent,' he replied. 6 'What reason can you give for not consenting?' 'A rabbit saved my life, and I have not killed one since, and never will kill one again.' 'How did he manage to save your life?' 'Three years ago I was living in Montana. A smelter had just been built and it created a demand for silver rock. I owned an interest in a lead that had been sunk on thirty feet. Thinking the time had come to make it available, I concluded to go there and get some ore, and have it tested. I did so; and reached the place just in time to take shelter in the mine from a terrible hail-storm. I lighted my candle, went to the bottom, and went to work. I had not been there more than five minutes when I heard a noise that sounded like a canThe rocks over my head shook, and in a moment the shaft behind me coved. You can imagine my feelings better than I can non. describe them when I found myself buried alive. I tremble even at this distant day when I think of that moment. The roof of the shaft was rocks, and when they came down they did not pack so tight but what the air came through. No one 'There was nothing that I could do to release myself. I knew that if relief did not come from the outside I must perish. knew I had gone there. A road ran past the mouth of the shaft, but it was not travelled much, and I was not likely to attract attention by calling; nevertheless, I shouted at intervals all day. The following morning I commenced calling again; and all day, whenever I thought I heard a sound, I shouted. When night came again all hopes of being released had abandoned me. One thing added great bitterness to my sufferings. I owed quite a large amount of money, and should my fate remain unknown, my creditors would think I had tried to defraud them, and my name would be stigmatized. 'I will not dwell on the agonies I endured; I am sorry I cannot forget them. The morning of the fourth day of my imprisonment I heard something crawl into my grave. I lighted my candle and saw a rabbit. There was only one aperture large enough to admit him; I closed it to prevent his escape. I saw in him food to appease my hunger, and my hand was raised to kill him, when a thought occurred to me that prevented the blow from descending. I had two fish lines; their united length would reach to the road. I took off my shirt, tore it into strings, tied them together and on them the fish-line. I wore a long gold watch chain; I tied it on the part of the line that would cross the road. I then cut several leaves from my diary, wrote on them my condition, and tied them on that part of the line that would be outside. I then tied the other end made of my shirt around Jack's neck and let him out. He soon reached the end of the line, and I knew by the way he was pulling he was making desperate attempts to escape. Soon the tugging stopped, and knowing gnawing to be Jack's chief accomplishment, I thought he had cut himself loose. About three hours afterward I felt the line pulled; then some one called. I tried to answer, but the hoarse noise I made died in the cavern. I then pulled the line to show I was not dead. 'All grew still again, and I knew the man had gone for assistance. Then came the sound of voices; I pulled in the line, and it brought me food. It took all the men who could work in the shaft nine hours to reach me. 'A very large pine tree that stood near the shaft had been the cause of my misfortune. It had been dead a number of years, and the storm had blown it over. The terrible blow it struck the ground had caused the cave. 'Jack had wound the line around a busb, and tied himself 80 short that he was imprisoned outside as securely as I had been inside. He was taken to town, put in a large cage, and supplied with all the rabbit delicacies the market afforded. He, however, did not thrive, and the boys believing that he 'pined in thought,' voted to set him free. He was taken back to his old girdling and liberated. 'He not only saved my life, but became the benefactor of all the rabbits in the neighbourhood-the minera refraining from shooting any, fearing it might be him.'-Selected. WEAR A SMILE. WHICH Will you do smile and make others happy, or be crabbed and make everybody around you miserable ? You can live, as it were, among beautiful flowers and singing birds; or in the mire, surrounded by fogs and frogs. The amount of happiness you can produce is incalculable if you show a smiling face and a kind heart and speak pleasant words. On the other hand, by sour looks, cross words, and a fretful disposition, you can make a number of persons wretched almost beyond endurance. Which will you do? Wear a pleasant countenance, let joy beam in your eyes, and love glow in your faces? There are few joys so great as that which springs from a kind act or a pleasant deed, you may feel it at night when you rest, at morning when you rise, and through the day when about your daily business. and "A smile! who would refuse a smile The sorrowing breast to cheer, And check the falling tear? And those of beauty bring." |